


A World Where You Weren't

by xanemarths



Category: Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson
Genre: Comfort, Established Relationship, Fear of Abandonment, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-02 06:19:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18805462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xanemarths/pseuds/xanemarths
Summary: Snufkin has a nightmare, or two. Moomin does his best to be a comfort, and really, he is the most comforting thing in the valley.





	A World Where You Weren't

**Author's Note:**

> This is not the first work I've started for Moomins, and it sure won't be the last. It's just the first one I had finished and polished to my liking.
> 
> I started writing this shortly after I started reading the first book. I have a feeling that the last one will destroy me, but I eagerly await it all the same.
> 
> Articulating my thoughts on Snufkin and how he both clearly desires companionship of some sort but is also easily overwhelmed by people and needs to wander is hard so instead I'll just say that Love Is Stored In The Snufkin and give you the fic.

It was still dark when Moomin awoke to a noise; at first, he thought it was nothing, or that he'd imagined it, but then he felt a familiar weight at his side, and heard a small whimper from a voice he knew very well.

Snufkin. Right. The wanderer had slept here because a great storm had come up just this afternoon, and though it was over by dinner, he'd still stuck around, citing “wet ground” as his reason. The excuse was weak enough, and something that had never bothered him in the past, but - Snufkin _had_ been making all sorts of excuses to share a bed with Moomin, lately.

Not that he needed to make excuses, given that they were boyfriends now, and everyone knew and supported them. But Snufkin still spent most of his nights outdoors, and seemed to treat ‘sleeping inside’ as a special occasion, reserved only for when he had some reason or excuse to. Like the storm.

Now, though, it allowed Moomin to catch him in a nightmare, and he was silently thankful that he was there and able to help wake Snufkin from whatever dream bothered him so. The mumrik’s eyes flew open on the second shake, and for a moment, he only stared at Moomin, blinking, his chest heaving as he shook. “Oh.”

“Snufkin,” said Moomin, gently. “Are you all right? You were whining in your sleep.”

At first, Snufkin was silent, and Moomin wondered if perhaps the question would always be unanswered. Not that he’d mind, much; if Snufkin didn’t want to talk about it, Moomin could always simply rub his back, and they could talk of other things instead until he had calmed. After a few moments, though, the mumrik broke, and it spilled out.

“I had a dream,” Snufkin whispered, between haggard breaths, “that one day, I came back to see you, and you were gone. The house was still here, but it was empty. You never came back.”

Moomin frowned at Snufkin, brows furrowing in sorrow as he leaned over and patted the mumrik’s fuzzy face. “I would never do that,” he said, firmly. “If - and this is such a huge if that I can hardly even consider it - _if_ I _were_ to ever leave the valley for good, I wouldn't do it without you, and if for some reason I _had_ to, I'd at least leave behind a note and a trail, so that you might follow me.”

Snufkin heaved a sigh, and slowly sank back down into the bed. One of his paws freed itself from the sheets, and reached over to lay itself on Moomin's arm. “I suppose so,” he said. “It wasn't so bad as the next dream, though. In the first, I knew that I had known your love. The second, it was like waking from the first dream, only to realize I was in a world where you never existed at all, and I was terribly alone, and the world was cold and cruel. I never found any of my family, and everyone I met would always find every single thing different about me, and tear me down for it in any way they could.”

At some point, their arms had wrapped tightly around the other; who initiated and who returned the gesture could never be certain. What _was_ certain, though, was that Moomin pressed his snout to Snufkin’s forehead and nuzzled him there until his breathing evened, one paw stroking the mumrik's back. Eventually, slowly, both of them drifted back to sleep like that, curled up and into each other, but not before Moomin had whispered some last, soft words:

“You'll always be safe and welcome in Moominvalley, Snufkin. And not even dreams can take that away.”

**Author's Note:**

> me, writing this:  
> My brain: hey, if Snufkin never met Moomin and thus heard of Moominpappa's Exploits, do you think he would have just, never found out who his parents were, thus never knowing if he had family or not, which despite his love for being alone is something he also seems to kind of want,  
> me, upset:


End file.
